Daily Archives: August 23, 2012

Tonight’s guest blog post, on the topic of originations is brought to you by crime novelist Neil Yuzuk.

Where Do Stories Come From?

Doc Ostrow: But the Krell forgot one thing.

Commander John J. Adams: Yes, what?

Doc Ostrow: Monsters, John. Monsters from the Id.

“Monsters from the Id” That famous line comes from the 1956 science-fiction movie, “Forbidden Planet”. Where do our stories come from? Do they come from our Ids, our experiences, our imaginations? Are they a result of some sort of wish fulfillment? I don’t know the specific answer, but I suspect that it’s varying degrees of those things I listed and possibly more that are not listed.

Sometimes stories and writing careers come about in the oddest way. Lois Lewandowski (author of the Gillian Jones mysteries) and I were exchanging emails about the use of forensics in our novels. I told her how Chapter 10 in my latest book, “Beachside PD: The Gypsy Hunter” came about and she urged me to share the story. In actuality, it is a murder mystery that is discovered and solved by the main character in that one chapter.

I called it “The Wrong Man Scenario” and it runs 6,230 words. A woman is found naked and dead in her bed by her husband. Her face is battered and bloody, and she’s been strangled with a scarf. Asleep next to her is a large almost naked man, who has blood spatter on his T-shirt and his knuckles are bruised and raw. A scented candle is burning, there are wine bottles and glasses near the bed and a Barry White CD is playing. The crime scene suggests a sexual encounter that went very wrong.

An open and shut case. But what if he didn’t do it?

Let’s start at the beginning and go back almost four years. I had just retired from my job as a Substance Abuse Prevention Counselor for a New York City high school. One year later, my relationship of 15 years ended—badly—and I was at very loose ends. My son David, a full-time police officer and part-time actor said, “Hey Pops, why don’t you write a movie script for me?” I’d never written more than a couple of short stories and several stage plays about at-risk teenagers for my students to perform for their peers.

So I wrote a script called “The Devil’s Troll” which was a terrific story, but written not so terrifically. However, I found that I had a knack for creating memorable characters and in writing this first time effort I developed research skills, skills that have stayed with me. Robert McKee, in his STORY seminar said, “Write the truth” and I did. Whatever I wrote afterwards, was carefully researched, believable and timelines were observed.

I worked on several more scripts and when David had an idea for a movie, we collaborated on, “The Reluctant Knight.” That became the basis for my first novel, “Beachside PD: The Reluctant Knight” and a crime series was born. David’s cop buddies were generous in sharing their stories and helping me to be real in my fictive telling of those stories.

On one trip down to Florida, I was introduced to a police officer whose name I cannot share. His pseudonym in the book was Robert Zaragossa and he is the real life Gypsy Hunter. There was a major problem in sharing his stories, they were not believable. It was the old story of, truth is stranger than fiction and the difference between fiction and reality, is that fiction needs to be believable.

Reality: There is a Gypsy on death row in Florida. In the book, “Beachside PD: The Gypsy Hunter” it takes Robert eight days to capture him. In real life, he did it in three and a half days using a telephone.

Reality: A four-year-old Gypsy girl is kidnapped by her Gypsy father in a custody battle with the Gypsy mother. One year later—the girl is still missing. Robert is asked to get involved and after two days of telephone calls the now five year old was turned over to the authorities.

I needed a non-Gypsy case to emphasize Robert’s dogged determination—he is a self-described pit bull. There was one such case, but it involves an undercover work and can’t be written at this time

So there I was in Aventura, Florida, at the Bagel Cove (a culinary refuge for New York Jews) having breakfast along with Police Lieutenant Bryan Pegues . . . and over bagels we began to plot murder.

Bryan shared several cases and we started with a carjacking that led to a second case that occurred where and when the carjackers were caught. Then we discussed various real “locked room” murder cases. But the one we selected was never solved. We created a murder scenario, without a specific solution and I left there, with a full tummy and four possible, rather shaky, and unbelievable solutions. It looked like our putative murderer, Martin Luther King “Bull” Belinsky, had played his last football game for the Miami Dolphins and was headed to death row.

I chewed on possible solutions, but none of them worked. Finally, I put one and one and one and one together and got four—a solution that combined good detective work, solid forensics, a witness to evidence (not the crime) and finally, luck. The case was solved and the killer was nailed. The answer evolved through the writing of the chapter.

But who was the killer, you ask? And well, you may. You can find the answer to that question in “The Gypsy Hunter,” Chapter 10.

Thank you, Neil.

Neil L. Yuzuk (pictured right) was born in Brooklyn, New York. Now retired after twenty-two years, as a SPARK Substance Abuse Prevention Counselor, he wrote Beachside PD: The Reluctant Knight, after collaborating with his police officer son on a screenplay of the same name. The book was a finalist in the Global eBook Awards in the category of suspense / thriller.

The second book in the series is Beachside PD: The Gypsy Hunter and third book is entitled Beachside PD: Undercover. He has also written a screenplay: Fade To Light. Another book, Zaragossa: Fruit of the Vine is in the works.

If you would like to write a writing-related guest post for my blog then feel free to email me with an outline of what you would like to write about. If it’s writing-related then it’s highly likely I’d email back and say “yes please”.

The blog interviews return as normal tomorrow morning with YA author and guest bloggerAnna White – the four hundred and seventy-first of my blog interviews with novelists, poets, short story authors, bloggers, autobiographers and more. A list of interviewees (blogged and scheduled) can be found here. If you like what you read, please do go and investigate further. And I enjoy hearing from readers of my blog; do either leave a comment on the relevant interview (the interviewees love to hear from you too!) and / or email me.

Unfortunately, as I post an interview a day (amongst other things) I can’t review books but I have a feature called ‘Short Story Saturdays’ where I review stories of up to 2,500 words. Alternatively if you have a short story or self-contained novel extract / short chapter (ideally up to 1000 words) that you’d like critiqued and don’t mind me reading it / talking about and critiquing it (I send you the transcription afterwards so you can use the comments or ignore them) :) on my ‘Bailey’s Writing Tips’ podcast, then do email me. They are fortnightly episodes, usually released on Sundays, interweaving the recordings between the red pen sessions with the hints & tips episodes. I am now also looking for flash fiction (<1000 words) for Flash Fiction Fridays and poetry for Post-weekend Poetry.

Welcome to the four hundred and seventieth of my blog interviews with novelists, poets, short story authors, biographers, agents, publishers and more. Today’s is with poet and article writer Kimberly Gray. A list of interviewees (blogged and scheduled) can be found here. If you like what you read, please do go and investigate further.

Morgen: Hello, Kimberly.

Kimberly: Hello. Morgen, first let me thank you again so much, what a tremendous service you offer authors and I for one really appreciate it.

Morgen: :*) Oh you’re very welcome. Thank you for being here. I’ve said this before but this blog wouldn’t be what it is without my guests. Please tell us something about yourself, where you’re based, and how you came to be a writer.

Kimberly: My name is Kimberly Gray and I find the fun in everything I do, suppose like a child. Life can be too serious at times and sometimes I need to just let loose. Born in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada as a Navy Baby, it was there I would start my multitude of moves landing me where I am living now in Toronto, back in Canada. I am 45 years old and have not stepped into a classroom since the age of 14. I am learning how to write like me everyday with a clearer message. I also seem everyday that I have just begun. I have been writing on my own, since the age of 14 as well.

I started to write because of a wonderful man who told me it could help me cope and heal, where doctors could not. PTSD and severe ADD certainly gave me some interesting challenges. That man, Earl, didn’t let me down, and writing does heal. This over time, is how I grew to start and love writing, and since then have done so everyday.

Morgen: Writing is incredibly therapeutic. Sometimes we just want to get something out of our head and seeing something written down is like sharing with someone, even if it doesn’t go anywhere. What genre do you generally write and have you considered other genres?

Kimberly: I have written poetry since the age of fourteen, and 2 years ago decided to write about my struggles in hopes to help others. My current book is a new pool of water for me, being a thriller. My other current book is educational, about drugs and drug dealing. Currently I am also entertaining the prospect of Journalism in the print medium.

Morgen: So plenty of variety. What have you had published to-date? Do you write under a pseudonym?

Kimberly: I write under the name Kimberly and have just published two e-books and was featured in five poetry books as the Editors Choice. I have published over 230 articles on HubPages, some under different names, including preY a vampire.

Morgen: HubPages has been mentioned a few times. I’ve looked at the site occasionally but never contributed, maybe I should. Have you had any rejections? If so, how do you deal with them?

Kimberly: No rejections to date, I am blessed with the feedback I have received.

Morgen: That’s great. Have you won or been shortlisted in any competitions?

Morgen: Having written so many articles (not wishing to belittle your abilities for a second) it must help that you’ve written so many. Life is practice, isn’t it (or is it 42 like Douglas Adams said). Do you have an agent? Do you think they’re vital to an author’s success?

www.alfiedog.com launched in May offering short story downloads in multiple formats and already carry over 500 stories from more than 130 authors around the world. “We are always open to submissions. All work is read and edited before being accepted and we don’t accept everything which is submitted, although we do try to suggest areas for improvement where this is possible.” Sounds good to me. :)

Bound Off usually welcomes submissions for their short story podcast but they’re currently closed until 1st September 2012.

Burrst.com is a great site for “short pieces of fiction – bursts of 1,250 words or less, both written and spoken” and welcomes new submissions.

CAKE.shortandsweet welcomes flash fiction and short stories for their magazine. They say “CAKE.shortandsweet is a brand new short story project to help unpublished writers get their work seen by the public. We take submissions of excellent stories from anyone and everyone who’s never published their writing. Every month we publish a few of the very best and distribute them to cafés and an independent library in Manchester. We strive to give detailed feedback on any stories that we don’t use, because we want to help writers grow and improve their work. The Portico Library has strong ties to the Manchester Literature Festival and also runs an annual young writers’ prize, so there are excellent opportunities for new writers getting involved with CAKE.shortandsweet.”. NB. You don’t have to live in Manchester, or even the UK, to submit. :) Also see their Facebook home page, Facebook events page and they’re also on Twitter.

Welsh writing group Clebran welcomes short pieces (in Welsh and / or English). No payment but it gets your name out there and you can read all their publications for free online.

Comma Press accepts one (two maximum) short stories for their bi-annual new writer showcase.

Dahlia Publishing, founded in 2010 and based in Leicester, aims to push the boundaries on creativity and diversity and engage BME readers. They’re keen to work with regional writers and talented young people to open the door to a career in publishing. If you’re writing a book or are a writer based in the region. Their submission guideline page says their looking for ‘Chick lit, Crime, Historical, Romantic, Multicultural, Young Adult and Children’s’ but not ‘Sci-Fi, Weird, Erotica, Horror, Gothic’. They ‘happy to accept poetry and short stories, when presented as a coherent collection’ and are ‘keen to publish first time authors’.

Daily Science Fiction welcomes original science fiction and fantasy which is posted / emailed every weekday with shorter pieces Monday to Thursday then a longer piece on Fridays.

Farragos Wainscot is a quarterly journal of the literary weird in fiction, poetry, and experimental wordforms. Unfortunately they no longer take submissions but this may change in the future so do keep looking from time to time (plus it’s an interesting site).

Interlitq “accepts submissions for short fiction, non-fiction, and poetry. We do not accept any unsolicited material that has been previously published. If the material appears anywhere online, including your personal blog, we cannot consider it for publication.”

Iota Magazine welcomes submissions of short fiction in any genre, including life writing and memoir for consideration for the second fiction issue. Please send short stories of between 2,000 and 6,000 words. All stories must be the original work of the author. We accept translations as long as they are identified as such. All work must be typed and double spaced. Please also send proposals (150 words) for features or essays. We also accept new fiction, biography and life writing for review, and copies should be sent to the Fiction Reviews Editor at the address below. Please email submissions and proposals to fiction@iotamagazine.co.uk.

The Leading Edge is a semi-professional speculative fiction magazine produced at Brigham Young University, (Utah, USA). You can submit <10,000 words, payment is 1 cent per word ($10 min) + 2 mag copies. They also accept sci-fi/fantasy poetry. Payment is $10 for the first 4 pages, $1.50 for each subsequent page of published poetry. Two contributor copies are also provided. They also buy illustrations.

Literary Submission Helper.com has various opportunities including their short story page. You get a sample for free but have to pay to see all 500+ across the genre range.

Interactive fiction is now available on mobile phones. Mobile books or ‘moooks’ are designed for instant viewing across a wide range of mobile networks worldwide, with first service availability in the UK. This new interactive storytelling concept is the brainchild of mifiction; a Surrey based company with a mission to introduce interactive books, ‘moooks’ across the mobile platform. The interactive nature means that the reader has the power to decide what happens in the story. At a number of points within each chapter, the reader has a choice of options to determine the outcome, giving an immense number of possible story variations. With more interactive fiction books in the pipeline, mifiction is keen to receive submissions from budding new authors, who can obtain further information by emailing contact@mifiction.co.uk. To find out more about mifiction go to www.mifiction.co.uk, where an example chapter of “The Three Tears” is available for anyone to try for free; simply enter your email address, create a password and explore interactive fiction for yourself.

The Moth is a quarterly arts & literature magazine features poetry, short fiction and pictures by established and up-and-coming writers and artists from Ireland and abroad.

Canadian publication The New Quarterly which takes submissions of short stories, poems, essays etc. See website or write to The New Quarterly, c/o St Jerome’s University, 290 Westmount Road North, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada N2L 3G3.

Founded in 1988, New Welsh Review is Wales’ leading literary quarterly and welcomes poetry and fiction submissions. They pay £28 per poem (6 max per 6-month period) or c £80 per short story (one per 6-month period). Post to Kathryn Gray, Editor, New Welsh Review, PO Box 170, Aberystwyth, Ceredigion SY23 1WZ or email submissions@newwelshreview.com. Feature proposals to editor@newwelshreview.com. Allow up to 3 months for a reply.

One Story is a non-profit seeking 3,000-8,000 word fiction (submissions 1 Sept-31 May only).

UK-based Paragram is looking for poetry and flash fiction (max 500 words) for their anthologies. See the website for latest theme.

Paraxis is a new online publisher of short stories. “We relish fiction with elements of the strange, uncanny or fantastic. We will be featuring new stories, reprints, artwork and essays.”

US-based online magazine Pedestal welcomes poetry of any length or form (max 6 submitted at one time) – payment US$40 per poem – and fiction max 4,200 words (one story per submission) or flash fiction (1,000 words max) – payment for fiction is US8c per word. Subscriptions to the magazine are free (currently c. 16,000 site visits per month). Genres covered include science fiction, horror, mystery and romance especially if character driven. Response c. 4-8 weeks. Pedestal publishes 4-5 times a year and includes c. 4 stories, 15 poems, reviews and interviews.

Rusty Nail is a new magazine taking submissions of prose (<3,000 words), poetry, book reviews and artwork.

Unfortunately, as I post an interview a day (amongst other things) I can’t review books but I have a feature called ‘Short Story Saturdays’ where I review stories of up to 2,500 words. Alternatively if you have a short story or self-contained novel extract / short chapter (ideally up to 1000 words) that you’d like critiqued and don’t mind me reading it / talking about and critiquing it (I send you the transcription afterwards so you can use the comments or ignore them) :) on my ‘Bailey’s Writing Tips’ podcast, then do email me. They are fortnightly episodes, usually released on Sundays, interweaving the recordings between the red pen sessions with the hints & tips episodes. I am now also looking for flash fiction (<1000 words) for Flash Fiction Fridays and poetry for Post-weekend Poetry.

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Morgen With An E

Morgen Bailey is a freelance writer and blogger, writer blog designer, host of the weekly Bailey’s Writing Tips audio podcast and two in-person writing groups based in Northamptonshire, England. She is the author of numerous short stories, novels, articles, has dabbled with poetry but admits that she doesn’t “get it”, and is a regular Radio Litopia contributor. She is Chair of another local writing group (which runs the annual HE Bates Short Story Competition), belongs to a fourth, and can regularly be found on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. When she’s not researching for her writing groups, she is a British Red Cross volunteer, walks her dog (often while reading, writing or editing) and reads (though not as often as she’d like but is spurred on by her new Kindle) and somewhere in between all that she writes. Her blog, which like her, is consumed by everything writing-related, is https://morgenbailey.wordpress.com and she loves hearing from writers and readers. You can also read / download her eBooks and free eShorts at Smashwords, Sony Reader Store, Barnes & Noble, iTunes Bookstore, Kobo and Amazon, with novels to follow. She also had a quirky second-person viewpoint story in charity anthology Telling Tales. She has a writing-related forum and you can follow her on Twitter, friend on Facebook, like on Facebook, connect on LinkedIn, find on Tumblr, complete her website’s Contact me page or plain and simple, email her. Most recently she has set up http://icanbuildyourwritingblog.wordpress.com designing blog sites especially for other writers.